My Brother Is Watching Me
dialogues 23

The time and the way of his reading, the artistic detachment and life belongings, identities and their plurals, consumptions and in-between spaces between intimate and public, apparent and spiritual, play and creation, image and text; these are the motifs and themes of the exhibition, which at first glance seems like and illustrated reading room, in which, one would, most naturally, watch short films with dance and music or take photos in an embrace with favourite artists from one’s own youth. Among the interlocutors – participants and co-authors of Habjan’s new dialogues – artists are also critics, teachers and friends, existing and imagined authors and characters, not always and necessarily visible or audible. Interactive and multimedia, with an emphasis on literature, poetry and music, the exhibition is also the artist’s all-day workspace, a place of live dialogue: presentation of a new book and performance of a new song, conversations and documentations, exchanges and socializing.

In the review of Habjan’s book Vrijeme i mi, PostApoc dialogues published by Lauba, 2021, Dubravka Zima wrote: In our monologic, auto-focused society of male narcissism, Habjan as a gesamtkunstwerk-kunstler seems strange, incompatible and an outsider because he nurtures dialogue in every artistic practice. Dialogue as an essence and existence, dialogue as a poetic, creative and organizational principle: a method in which the “I” is not suppressed but articulated again in a specific, transformative lyrical encounter. Creating joyfully and in dialogue – that is the strong opposition to a large part of contemporary Croatian literature, which in many versions explores its own existential weight and is re- presented in a monologue.

Medicine and magic are concepts that are mentioned in the descriptions of Habjan’s literature, exhibitions, and ambiences. Seven days of Stanislav in Lauba should be enough to confirm the miracle work.

Join us at the Lauba premises on March 18, starting at 7 p.m.! Entrance to the opening is free, and you can view the exhibition from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

We are waiting for you!